Of Radios and Books
by MagicInTheDark
Summary: Human AU USUK-Alfred is the main speaker of a radio show that author Arthur listens to when it comes on. Alfred is funny and charming and Arthur really likes his personality and his voice. Arthur sens critic messages about what Alfred says during the show. He doesn't know that Alfred looks forward to them messages. For the LiveJournal USUK Secret Santa 2012


Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or the characters

._._._._._.

"_I think that certain levels of stupidity should be illegal. I mean really, how hard is it to use common logic? If a sign says "Not Hiring" don't ask for a job application. If the waiter has told you that they're fresh out of lemonade, don't ask if they have strawberry lemonade. It's the same damn thing, only pink and with strawberries blended into it! You have a brain, why don't you use it?"_

The voice of Arthur Kirkland's favorite radio host rang through his apartment, the voice of Alfred. He was going off on one of his rants yet again. Arthur always listened to the opinionated American's radio show; in fact, it was something he looked forward to. It was one of the few things he actually enjoyed on the radio. So every broadcast Alfred made, Arthur made the habit of sending in a review of some sort. He had already began scribbling down his review for this broadcast on a nice sheet of stationery.

"_I'm so done with stupid people. I mean if you can't even find Germany on a map I'm concerned for your mental health. Go see a doctor. Ask your mom if she dropped you when you were little. Maybe you're just a goddamn idiot. Who knows? Anyways my audio man Kiku is giving me that sign that means I should shut up and wrap this up. Thanks to all you awesome listeners! I'm Alfred, and you should tune in next time! Bye y'all!"_

As the American radio host signed off Arthur was finishing up his letter review. He sealed the letter and quickly went outside to go put it with the outgoing mail. The Brit sighed, knowing he would have to return to his work now. So he went upstairs to his room where he worked as an adult fantasy author, which was irritating as hell when you have as bad of a writer's block as Arthur did.

-OVERWITHALFRED-

Alfred stretched his arms and stood up as Kiku, his Japanese audio man, gave him the 'off air' signal through the soundproof box Alfred stood behind. It had been a successful show as far as he could tell. After each show he would search through his reviews and critiques. Well... After most shows anyways. The American did actually have things he liked to do in his free time after all.

The tall blonde walked over to the small pile of letters he had carelessly tossed into a small wicker basket. There were more letters than usual, probably due to the controversial topic he had addressed last week. Damn gay rights and it's controversy. Everyone deserves to be equal. Sighing under his breath the blonde sorted through his letters, tossing out any sort of hate mail. Finally the pile dwindled down to only the small pile he usually had. A familiar address and name caught the American's bright blue eyes, causing a grin to form on his face. Arthur never failed to write a great review, and Alfred looked forward to them. It was time to see what the interesting man had to say about gay rights. Excitedly Alfred opened the letter and began reading.

_Dear Alfred-_

_As per usual I send in a review of your show. This week you had quite the topic, I'm surprised you actually went ahead and talked about LGBT rights. You made some fairly accurate points and for once I don't have a counter-argument. In all actuality I'm glad to know someone who is as well known as you has the guts to voice his opinion on the air. I myself am gay, and was constantly ridiculed for it as a child. So thank you once again for standing up to society with that loud voice. Many people must have heard, as they should be listening to your brilliant show. I look forward to your next broadcast. _

-_Sincerely, Arthur Kirkland_

The American read over the letter once again, a goofy smile plastered upon his face. Arthur's reviews were always the best ones to read. Sometimes he would write an entire argument against what Alfred had said on his broadcast that day. For a while now, Alfred had been wanting to meet this man and thank him for being such a loyal listener. He also had a little theory that Arthur had to be handsome, but Alfred knew that was hopeful thinking. The fact that Arthur had come out to Alfred in his letter was the final line though. Alfred would meet this man. The blue eyed boy grinned as he gently pushed his glasses back up his nose; he had a plan to hatch.

-BACKTOARTHUR-

It was a week later and the English author sat behind his desk with a scowl upon his face. Writer's block is an author's worst nightmare. Finally Arthur stood up and went to prepare himself a cup of hot tea. He thought that maybe it would calm his nerves and clear his mind. He turned on the radio as he let the tea bag sit. Soon enough the radio show host was talking loudly to all of his listeners. Arthur smiled lightly and had a seat, prepared to listen to the boy's every word.

"_Hey y'all! This is Alfred, the totally awesome hero of the radio speaking! Now usually right about now I'd start in on a random subject and then ramble about my opinion... But I'm gonna get to that in a minute. Right now I'm going to announce that one of my amazing reviewers, or critics, gets to have the honor of meeting me! You even get to pick the place. "_

Arthur choked on his tea. All of the sudden one of Alfred's reviewers got to meet him in person? Arthur had wanted to see Alfred for ages now. The Brit was rather curious about the radio show host. Could it be possible for him to actually meet Alfred?

"_Alright everyone, I'm selecting the lucky person now... And the winner is..."_

Arthur held his breath, even though he knew his chances had to be almost nothing.

"_Arthur Kirkland! Congrats Arthur! In your next letter just send where you want to meet and when. I'll be there! Now, to get back to the usual scheduling of the show... Coffee and tea. I mean, what the hell is up with tea!?"_

Arthur was barely listening to the show. He had won. He gets to meet Alfred in person. It was a dream come true, in a sense. Within moments Arthur began scribbling a reply to Alfred, then realized he had no idea where to have them meet. Now that posed a problem.

"_I don't understand how people love tea so much. It's just plants soaked in water. Coffee is just so much better! You can add chocolate, caramel, whipped cream... Anything you want! Tea can't have chocolate in it, that'll just make it even more weird tasting."_

Arthur rolled his eyes. The poor boy understood nothing about tea. That's when the idea hit him. He'd meet Alfred at a cafe of sorts, a small one that served both coffee and tea. It was the perfect meeting place, and then Arthur could prove to him that tea was delicious. With newfound determination Arthur wrote the review, googling the address to his favorite cafe and including it within the letter. He made sure to not come off as overly-enthusiastic. He set their meeting day 5 days away so that the letter had time to travel. He signed and sealed it, then sat back and listened to Alfred's show, which was now ending.

_"Just don't forget that coffee beats almost any other drink. Sadly it's time for me to get off -air, but I hope you all tune in next time! And another call out to the lucky Arthur Kirkland, I'm sure we'll have a blast hanging out together! Talk to you all next time!"_

And with that his show ended, Arthur clutching his invitation in his hand. It was time to go mail it. After that who knows what's going to happen? With a deep breath Arthur went downstairs and mailed off the letter. In five days time he would be face-to-face with Alfred.

-OHHEYITSFIVEDAYSLATER-

Alfred arrived early to the cafe. He wanted to give a good impression, seeing as how he was usually late to things, so he made sure to arrive early. The blonde sat only at a table for two sporting a name tag that read "Hello my name is: Alfred F. Jones Radio Host of Epicness". He came up with it himself (of course).

Alfred's sky blue eyes framed by a pair of wire rimmed glasses scanned each man who walked into the cafe. A balding man in his late forties, then a young brunette who had to be in middle school walked in, but neither noticed Alfred. The next crowd was a ton of girls, Alfred paid them no mind. Finally the time came for when they were actually supposed to meet and a shorter blonde man came through the door, seeming to be looking for someone.

The man had abnormally large eyebrows that surprisingly suited his face. His blonde hair wasn't styled at all but was tousled around messily. His attire was more formal than casual and his eyes were a stunning emerald color. Alfred crossed his fingers hoping that this would be Arthur, because if so he would have a very attractive fan.

Arthur stood by the door scanning the crowd. Alfred had a young voice, so he looked for a young man. Then he noticed the blonde wearing a nametag. Yes, that had to be Alfred. Arthur took a deep breath and walked towards him, not expecting the host to be quite so attractive. Alfred looked up at Arthur and grinned, happy that they had met at last.

"Hallo Alfred, it's a pleasure to meet you." Arthur smiled slightly as he sat down across from Alfred. He wasn't necessarily a people person and wasn't really sure what to do or say.

The taller blonde flashed a winning smile at Arthur, trying not to react to the amazing British accent Arthur spoke with. "Great to finally meet ya Arthur! Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself, since you already know plenty about me." He laughed but truly did want to know more about Arthur.

"Well... I'm British as you can probably tell. I'm from London but I moved here to America for career reasons. I'm an adult fantasy writer... and I think tea is much better than coffee," He ended with a smirk, easing himself into a conversation.

"No way dude, coffee is way better. You just like tea because you're British!"

"Maybe you're just uncultured."

"That's probably true." Alfred laughed again, and his contagious smile had infected Arthur. The Brit's smile wasn't quite as bright, but it was unusual for him to be smiling this much.

The air between the two men was already much more comfortable and warm than it had been just moments ago. They had become comfortable with one another, probably because they both were so used to reading and or hearing the other's words.

They talked for an hour more, the subject changing constantly. They would be talking about their families one moment, then be talking about music the next. Alfred had come to the conclusion that he would make sure he could see Arthur again, but next time he would make it a date.

"Arthur?"

"Yes Alfred, what is it?" Arthur responded while taking a sip of the tea he had ordered.

"What would you say to a date with your favorite radio show host? Because I think you're pretty much the best person I've talked to in a long time."

Arthur flushed a deep red; he had not been expecting that at all. "W-well I suppose we could meet up again..."

"Really!? That would be great! Why don't you stop by the studio tomorrow during my broadcast? I could show you all the equipment and what the studio looks like!"

"That sounds nice. I'll look forward to it."

"Awesome! I'll see you tomorrow babe!" Alfred cast Arthur a quick wink then bolted out of the cafe, leaving Arthur sitting there in a dazed confusion. What had he just agreed to?

-THENEXTDAY-

Arthur stood outside of the studio building, looking up at the enormous building. There had to be at least 50 floors within it. The Brit took a deep breath and pressed the clear windowed doors open to see the main floor and a desk with the sign "Reception" printed clearly over it. Well, it was certainly a place to up to the desk the Chinese receptionist noticed him and wrapped up his phone call quickly.

"Ni hao. What is your business here today?" The Chinese man asked while opening his laptop.

"Erm... Hallo. I'm here to see Alfred Jones and his broadcasting station."

"Floor 5, the elevator is on your left."

"Thank you." Arthur turned to the left to enter the elevator and pressed the shining, round button "5". As the elevator made it's slow rise through the next few floors Arthur tapped his foot impatiently. He was tired of waiting, he was probably missing the show right now. Plus he was anxious to see Alfred once again.

The elevator doors opened to a view of Alfred within a concealed clear box, and a Japanese man working on a small pile of sound equipment. The show was already started and Arthur could hear Alfred's voice clearly broadcasting.

"_You see ladies and gentlemen, the British are very different from us Americans. They're more formal, they drink tea... But the biggest difference is probably the accent that they have. You all know what I'm talking about. British accents are quite possibly the best accent in the whole world. It just has a way of saying... "Hello I'm British and sexy" don't you think?_

Alfred laughed from within his little box and turned his head to notice a furiously blushing Arthur still standing in the entryway to his studio. He flashed a cheesy grin at the Brit, then continued on with the show knowing it would be time to wrap it up soon anyways.

"_In case y'all couldn't tell already, I REALLY have a thing for British accents. Yup, that's right folks. That's my confession for the day. Sadly though this is where you and I must part. You all have to turn off your radios any minute now because Alfred is going off-air. I hope you all enjoyed the show and that you tune in next time! I cherish every listener I've got so don't disappoint me!"_

Alfred gave a thumbs up sign to the Japanese audio man, who gave a simple nod in return. Alfred stood up and exited his clear box, most of his attention focused on Arthur. The shorter blonde was still by the doorway and pink in the face. Alfred made his way over, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Enjoy the show? The idea came to me yesterday."

"I wonder why. You're quite forward you know..." The Brit stated sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Alfred shrugged and slipped arm arm around Arthur's waist. "Kiku! I'm giving Artie here a tour! You can go ahead and leave if ya need to! I've got this."

The Japanese man nodded and grabbed a small bag before heading out the door. Neither of the blondes noticed that he took a quick picture of them as Alfred slipped his arm around Arthur's waist, pulling his in closer as he led him into the glass box.

"It has to be sound proof so no outside noises can interfere with my broadcast. Neat huh?"

Arthur nodded, pulling away from Alfred to look around the small space. Alfred had it decorated to his taste, the small box had superhero posters hung on the wall of every kind. What really caught the Brit's eye though, was the back corner where there were envelopes scattered about. All of them were Alfred's reviews and fan mail.

"You sure do get a lot of mail..." Arthur muttered under his breath, his slender fingers picking up an envelope.

"Yea I guess. Wanna see how I selected who I got to meet?" Alfred cast a mischievous grin over to the shorter blonde, the latter raising his thick eyebrows in suspicion.

"Sure. How did you choose?"

"I chose from that pile over there." Alfred pointed to a box of letters that were neatly stacked, unlike most of the others. Arthur approached the box and shuffled through the letters. After a moment he stood there frozen, a single letter in his hand.

"Alfred... All of these letters are mine. Every single one of them..."

"Yea. What about it?"

"But... what about the others? Where are all the other letters?"

Alfred sighed as he took the letter from Arthur's grasp and placed it back into the pile. "Arthur, you were the one I wanted to meet. I always look forward to your reviews and the arguments and tidbits contained in them. So I decided I was going to meet you."

Arthur stood silently for a moment, surprised by the sincerity in Alfred's voice. Taking a deep breath he decided to let down his usual guard down. This meant that he was going to put his good faith into Alfred.

"Well that's... amazing actually. I don't really know what to say..."

"Well..." Alfred moved towards the Brit, closing in on him until his lips were only centimeters away from Arthur's ear.

"You could say yes to another date with me..."

A shudder ran through Arthur's body, Alfred's breath hot and moist next to his ear.

"W-well I suppose another date would be nice..."

"Mmm... Maybe dinner?"

"Sure, and dear god Alfred you can't just be this close to me and tease me. Do something or I will." Arthur muttered back to him fiercely.

Alfred placed his lips gently against Arthur's ear then trailed over to his cheek. He was only moments away from meeting the Brit's lips when his own phone rang.

Groaning Alfred pulled out his phone and actually face-palmed. Clicking on the answer button he told the caller to hold on for a moment.

"Arthur it's my brother, I kinda forgot I had plans with him today. Two nights from now we're having dinner. My number is in your pocket but I've gotta take this."

Arthur nodded and cast Alfred a half-smile as he pulled a sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket with Alfred's number scrawled across it.

Alfred went back to his phone and Arthur turned towards the door and left, and programing Alfred's number into his phone while he waited for an elevator.

-TWODAYSLATER-

The duo sat across from each other in the Olive Garden, Arthur had chosen to eat there from a list of places Alfred had shown him. They had just ordered their drinks from their surprisingly Italian waiter Feliciano. The cheery waiter came back with two beers, iced tea, and a coke.

Taking a sip of his beer, Alfred looked curiously over at Arthur. "So Arthur what do you do for a living anyhow?"

"Oh I never did tell you now did I? I'm an author. I write adult fantasy stories. As of right now I'm working on a story I've entitled 'Faeries vs Angels'."

"That's so cool! I'm totally gonna go buy your books. How's your new one coming?"

Sighing heavily, Arthur took an almost cautious sip of his beer. He had no plans to get drunk. "The book itself is alright, I've just got to get rid of my writers block. I'm trying to come up with a character, the main fighter for the faerie warriors."

"A warrior? You should base him on me!" Alfred laughed and flashed Arthur a goofy grin, his beer already half-gone.

Arthur was just about to respond to his dates notion when Feliciano came back to take their orders.

"I'll have the spaghetti and meatballs." Arthur stated as the Italian took down the order.

"And I'm gonna have... The chicken alfredo." Alfred added.

"Ooh that's a great choice! My fratello makes the greatest tomate sauce~! Your order will be out soon!" The Italian gave the couple a wave before walking back to the kitchen.

"Well he's certainly a cheery waiter." Arthur stated, chuckling just slightly as Alfred nodded in agreement.

"As to your previous notion about me inserting you into my book... I don't think I'll do it. You don't fit the part. However if I find a fitting space in some of my later works maybe I could fit you in."

"Dude are you serious!? That would be so freaking cool!"

Arthur couldn't contain his laughter as he watched Alfred's face completely light up in excitement.

"I didn't think you'd be so excited about it." He finally said after he had calmed his laughter a bit.

"I should be funny more often. You're really cute when you laugh." The American smirked as Arthur turned a shade of pink.

"You're an insufferable arse." The Brit muttered as he looked away, Alfred still smirking at him.

"Well arse or not our food is here." Alfred nodded towards Feliciano who was walking back to them with their dishes.

Feliciano set down the two dishes and turned to leave, waving at them once again. "Enjoy your food! Ciao!"

The two blondes started in on their dishes, and part-way through the meal Alfred took out a small black notebook and jotted something down in crayon. He had made sure to snag a kids menu so he could color before the meal came.

"Alfred what are you writing?"

"Hrm? Oh. I write ideas for topics for my show in this book."

His thick eyebrows raising in curiosity Arthur asked, "May I take a look?"

Alfred shrugged and handed the book to Arthur. His handwriting was sloppy but Arthur managed to make out most of the words.

_Italians_  
_Pasta_  
_Books and Authors_  
_Lady and the Tramp_

"Lady and the Tramp? One of these things is not like the other." Arthur stated bluntly and took a bite of his spaghetti.

Alfred flushed but decided to show Arthur as he leaned across the table to bite the end of the string of noodle Arthur was eating.

The Brit rolled his eyes but played along, both of them eating the noodle until their lips met in the middle. It only lasted for a moment though before they both pulled away with pink faces.

It was silent for a moment, neither of the blondes sure what to say.

Finally Arthur broke the silence. "Honestly you could have been much smoother than using a children's movie as an idea to kiss me. It's corny and overused."

Alfred laughed before pulling the Brit in for a proper kiss. This time the awkward air was gone, their lips meeting in a gentle fashion but progressing to something more sincere. It lasted for a few magical moments, both of them smiling at one another after they had pulled away.

The duo finished their dinners and Alfred was finishing off Arthur's beer since he had refused to finish it himself.

After setting the empty glass down Alfred looked at Arthur, his expression surprisingly serious.

"What is it Alfred?"

"Sometimes people send in topics for my show. There's only one I've never been able to do, and that's soul mates. I've never really believed in them because I've never connected with anyone. But... We've only been on three dates and I can just tell there's a connection there."

Arthur's eyes widened a bit but he replied in agreement. "I think so too. I've only just barely met you but I can talk comfortably with you, which is strange for me. I'm not great with social interaction."

Their eyes met, both of them sincere and gentle.

"I can feel in my gut that we're soul mates Arite. We were ment to meet."

Arthur couldn't help but agree.

._._._._._.

A/N: I wrote this for aerith1992 on LiveJournal for the 2012 Secret Santa exchange. I pretty much fell in love with her prompt of Alfred being a radio host and Arthur being an avid listener.

I would love some feedback on this story too, any sort of feedback is great. I love constructive critisim just as much as I love a "Hey you're story is pretty cool."

Just review please? I love all of your faces!

~MagicInTheDark~


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